assembling a shortblock
Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 483
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From: Texas
assembling a shortblock well im in a shithole right now every shop ive went to are chargin me about a grand without rings and bearings to rebuild my shortblock im thinkin mostly because I have to line bore my block but most shops are chargin me about 600 to just line bore and i think thats a little to much so I was thinkin of just rebuilding the thing myself, but I have no idea on how to do it? Is there anything that shows how to assemble it and what tools I will need
On The Tree
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 128
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Holy cow man. Take the block apart yourself with hand tools in your garage or wherever, then find a PERFORMANCE engine shop, not a family car repair center. Here is the standard quotes I have been given:
Bore with torque plate: $100-$150
Prep block (hot tank, cleaning): $60
Balance rotating assembly (if needed): $150
Press on and assemble pistons: $40
Assemble shortblock (minus oil pump and cam): $125
I see you need a line bore, and I haven't gotten a quote for that, but there is no way in hell it should cost $600. You should be getting out the door with around $500 for the labor if you shop around. Where they will get you is if you walk in the door with a fully assembled block and ask them to tear down and then also put back together. Get the thing into pieces and take the parts to them.
Good luck!
Bore with torque plate: $100-$150
Prep block (hot tank, cleaning): $60
Balance rotating assembly (if needed): $150
Press on and assemble pistons: $40
Assemble shortblock (minus oil pump and cam): $125
I see you need a line bore, and I haven't gotten a quote for that, but there is no way in hell it should cost $600. You should be getting out the door with around $500 for the labor if you shop around. Where they will get you is if you walk in the door with a fully assembled block and ask them to tear down and then also put back together. Get the thing into pieces and take the parts to them.
Good luck!
Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 483
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From: Texas
Well ive already taken everything apart down to the bare block but most places are chargin me about 400 for the short block assembly so id figure id try to assemble it myself because there are really no performance shops aroudn me...closest place is TSP but they're abotu 300 miles away and im still in school so thats outta the question. So all i have to really pay for is a line bore, bore with a torque plate, balancing, clean block and press on and assemble pistons.
I could ship it to some place like tsp or wherever but have no idea on how much shipping would be and im guessing its expensive so I dunno?
I could ship it to some place like tsp or wherever but have no idea on how much shipping would be and im guessing its expensive so I dunno?
On The Tree
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 128
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What city are you in? Too bad there isn't a good engine shop close to you. Also I know a bare block can be shipped UPS for a decent price, but a shortblock with the crank weight added would most likely have to go freight back, which wouldn't be cheap.
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 3,043
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From: Texas and Qatar
I'm not sure on how much shipping a block would be from where your located, I would check with a local freight company depending on your location.
We pay very premium prices for our machine work which is done at a very high dollar racing machine shop. In fact they won't even take in normal rebuilds that most machine shops thrive on. We usually pay about $750 for complete blockwork such as torque plate boring/honing, pressing in new camshaft bearings, decking the block square (if needed), balancing rotating assembly, assembling pistons on rods, and preliminary bearing clearancing checks. The less work the block needs the better the pricing.
We pay very premium prices for our machine work which is done at a very high dollar racing machine shop. In fact they won't even take in normal rebuilds that most machine shops thrive on. We usually pay about $750 for complete blockwork such as torque plate boring/honing, pressing in new camshaft bearings, decking the block square (if needed), balancing rotating assembly, assembling pistons on rods, and preliminary bearing clearancing checks. The less work the block needs the better the pricing.
Teching In
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 12
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From: sacramento, ca
I am having my motor rebuilt right now, and my costs were 2.5k, which included, new .010 over pistons, ALL gaskets for the engine, ALL the bearings, rings, hardened bolts, hot tank, blue printing, balnacing and assembly, plus some decking on my stage II heads for some more CR. Thats not inluding all of the other parts I bought on my own....hehe. (I dont want to add them all up....)
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
TECH Regular
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 483
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From: Texas
Well ive shopped around and its pretty damn expensive knowing im reusing my pistons rods and crank. Joseph I talked to u a while back ago and I showed u that piston where the whole side skirt was torn off and I had a 98 t/a, but i dunno if u would remember. What I think im gonna do is save up for some new pistons, rods, cam, bigger stall and headers and maybe get my heads ported and get bigger valves or whateveru gotta do i guess just liek a stage II head? But all I need to know is how to build the block??
